Meal Planner Monday and Weigh In Number 4

I weighed on Saturday Morning as usual, but we had a weekend away so I didn’t get a chance to post my weigh in separately as I would do normally, but even with some extended birthday celebrations and a unexpected rearing of the binge monster on Friday I was extremely happy with my:

1.5 lbs loss!!

 

So onto this weeks plan, we have nothing lined up for the weekend so we should be able to stay 100% until next Tuesday, which is my Father in Law’s birthday.

Monday:

Marinated Chicken with Salad

Tuesday:

Pasta with Chickpea Tomato Sauce

Wednesday:

Pork and Apple Salad

Thursday:

Chicken Potato Topped Pie

Friday:

Salmon Salad

Saturday:

Lamb Dopiaza and Rice

Sunday:

Roast Beef and some healthy trimmings

Thinspiration Thursday – My Friend Alison

This week I am dedicating my Thinspiration Thursday to a good friend of mine, Alison.  We met about 4 years ago on that first day I wandered into the Slimming World group, my first non medical gathering for 18 months.  She was there sat at the scales and gave me the first of many encouragements by telling me that when she started she weighed more than I did, and at that stage had lost about 5 stone, so if she could do it I could too.  She was the first person to drag me out my house to do something more social, she even got me to Zumba classes on a few occasions.

We’ve both fallen off the wagon a few times, but we’ve both got back on.  This week after a couple of stay the same weeks, which would have caused her discouragement in the past, she lost 7 pounds and she is now 4 lbs away from having lost a total of 10 stone (140 lbs) altogether! She posted some before and after pics on facebook and she looks amazing, having lost an incredible 8 dress sizes.  I have absolutely no doubt that she’ll get all the way to her target and maintain it.

She makes me want to go onwards and make her as proud of me as I am of her, I am lucky to be able to call her my friend!

Meal Plan Monday – 15th July

So here is a picture of the Schupfnüdeln as promised from last week, it possibly doesn’t look quite as appetising as it did in real life, they are yummy take my word for it!

Again this is not a full week because we are away over the weekend, yay!  Must be better than I was over my birthday though!!

Monday:

Gammon with Butter Beans and boiled potatoes

Tuesday:

Red Thai Curry Inspired Turkey with Salad

Wednesday:

Spinach, Tomato and Black Olive Pasta

Thursday:

Marinated Chicken with Salad

Friday:

Salmon and Brown Rice Salad

Best Birthday present to my self!

I weighed in this morning, a day early as it is my birthday and I managed a:

2.5 lbs loss!!

That means I have lost a stone (14 lbs) in the past 3 weeks! Yay!  Anyway I am off to celebrate a little more!

Thinspiration Thursday – MiniMins.com

Having a good support network when losing weight is key.  Many people have a reason for not wanting to confide in friends or family that they’re attempting to lose weight, possibly because they don’t want them to interfere or not to lose face in case they fail. Again. Just because you don’t want others in your daily life to know what you’re doing for now, it doesn’t mean you have to go it alone!

Many people, like I did at the beginning, join a group such as Slimming World, WeightWatchers or Rosemary Conley. I loved my Slimming World group! For the last year that I attended I was one of the weigh in girls, and had I not moved away I would never have left.  Unfortunately, Slimming World do not exist here in Germany, otherwise I would have most certainly sought out another local group.  However, groups are not for everyone and as with me, there may not be a viable local option.  We did join WW, but unfortunately at the time my German was nowhere near good enough to be able to interact properly.

So, looking for other options, I joined MiniMins.com and found a whole bunch of people facing the same struggles as me and offering great advice, support and encouragement, especially when things got hard.  There is a fab slideshow of before and after pictures, which is hugely inspiring when you need a little lift and even if you don’t.  It doesn’t matter how you are tackling your weight loss, be it surgically, non surgically, calorie counting, through a weightloss group, meal replacements, vlcd.  You will find like minded people who are sharing your journey.  There are even super secret forums for those doing meal replacements where the mention of food is forbidden, so that those that choose to go about it that way have a safe place to support each other.

There are hundreds of user shared recipes in every section, well maybe not the aforementioned super secret part, but if you want something low points, low cal, low carb or syn-free that is easy to make and delicious, then you’ll be spoilt for choice.

There is even a games section so that you can distract yourself and keep your hands busy during those moments when you might otherwise find your hand in the biscuit jar.  So, if you haven’t already give it a visit!

http://www.minimins.com

Meal Plan Monday – 8th July

This is only going to be half a week in Meal plans because Friday is my birthday! More about that in another post.  My breakfast is pretty boring and usually the same so I shan’t mention it unless it is something different.  When there is only one meal mentioned it will be because I will have the leftovers the next day.

Monday:

Honey Mustard Salmon Fillet with Salad

Tuesday:

Kidney Bean Curry

Wednesday:

Sauerkraut with Schupfnüdeln  (a southern German potato thing, erm I’m not sure actually what this is we don’t have them in England… a bit like Italian Gnocchi I suppose, I’ll have to post pics when I make it)

Thursday:

Steak with Salad

Come in Week 2, your time is up!

This week has not gone as well as I had dreamed of but I am still happy all the same.  This week we had our oil based heating system ripped out and replaced with a gas one, this meant workmen in and out all day, lots of banging and drilling and stuff outside and inside, which started at 7.30 am.  On Thursday we had no water at all, and I was tired and had a headache.  All in all I was a little stressed and had little sleep, but I stuck to my calories and counted everything that passed my lips 100%, and that was the biggest achievement to keep focussed in the face of stress, when in the past I would have crumbled into bad habits.  Anyway, in the end I had a:

1.5 lbs loss!!

So I made a vlog!

I thought that as I am so inspired by the YouTube diaries and success story videos and because I desperately want to try an bottle my mojo for later I made a video of my own!  I apologise now for the picture quality and it is a little longer than I meant to make it, but I will be better in the next one I promise!

It is weigh in tomorrow and I have been on the scales in between and it isn’t looking as good as I hoped it might be, but tomorrow it may suddenly change.  I have measured and recorded everything that has passed my lips, so if nothing else that is a non scale victory I can take away from this week and I am sure next week will be better! More about that tomorrow!

Back to the business of YouTube-ing here is the video here it is:

 

Thinspiration Thursday – The Biggest Loser

I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that keep me inspired. In fact, I say things when really I should say people who keep me inspired.  I love success stories! Don’t we all? It gives us hope and strength that one day we won’t be on this side of the journey, and instead that could be us!

This week we finished watching the last season on The Biggest Loser Australia. I was quite happy with who won (I shan’t name them in case anyone is still working their way through it) and their transformations were, as always, amazing.  There are so many inspirational people to come out of all versions of the show! Yes, their weight loss isn’t realistic for people in the real world, but their losses are hard worked for and should be a lesson to us all in not giving up and pushing through our comfort levels to get the lives we dream of.  Who could forget Tara Costa winning the car dragging race? She was more than just in the zone, she owned it!

The very first season was ground breaking, they had no idea the results that people would achieve.  They are currently filming the 15th American season and 9th Australian one and each has developed their concept and changing things that haven’t worked.  Unfortunately the UK version was not renewed this year, and lets face it it wasn’t the same after Angie Dowds was dropped and perhaps, if she hadn’t tragically taken her own life, she would have been taken back again.

If you don’t want to watch an entire season then just watch the first episode and the finale to see just how far they have come physically and mentally. So, sit back and be inspired over the next hour:

Lose by date: 8th June 2016

I have a new target for when I want to have reached goal by, and it isn’t as random as it might first seem.  In fact, I had to do a few calculations to get to that date.  At first I thought I would do the  Fit By 40 thing, I am very almost 35 so that would give me 5 years to lose it.  However, while I was writing a previous post, where I stated that I just wanted to lose weight every week between now and the end of BB15, it got me thinking about where I would be now if I had constantly lost weight every week since I was my heaviest back in May 2009.  This when I joined Slimming World and my meetings also happened to be a Wednesday, so that makes things nice and neat!

So, I will try and explain my calculations without complicating it further, and hopefully I haven’t miscalculated:

• I joined SW 20th May 2009, 215 weeks ago;
• A constant ½ pound per week loss would add up to 7 stone 9.5 lbs (107.5 lbs);
• Meaning I would now weigh 15 st 13.5 lbs (223.5 lbs);
• I would be 7 stone 6.5 lbs (76.5 lbs) away from my 10½ stone (140 lbs) target;
• That would mean another 153 weeks, which brings us to 8th June 2016.

That is just under 3 years to lose about 10 stone, I will readdress my goal when I get closer and can see how it feels.  My first target though is to catch up with, and then overtake, this imaginary Slimming World me.  I don’t mind when that is, it may not be until a month before target, but at some point I am going to do it of that I am determined!